Background & Aims

Dispelling societal myths about knee osteoarthritis (OA) that prevent optimal management has potential for substantial health and economic impact. Our OA consumer partners identified that a scalable knowledge translation intervention is of primary importance [1]. In response, we co-designed a novel video prototype to improve public understanding about OA and conducted a preliminary evaluation of the prototype in target audiences prior to wide dissemination. The video challenges the myth that OA is caused by ‘wear-and-tear’ – a common misconception that reduces exercise participation and prescription. The primary objective was to evaluate the impact of the video prototype on OA beliefs in 1) People with Knee OA, 2) People without Knee OA, and 3) Health Professionals. Secondary objectives explored effects of the video on pain self-efficacy, fear of movement, and intended management behaviours (People with Knee OA only). We also collected general feedback to improve the video.

Methods

To create the video prototype, an iterative co-design approach using participatory strategies to ensure equal partnership was undertaken with seven people with lived experience of knee OA. Once the prototype was finalised, a separate sample of participants was recruited for an online survey in which questionnaires were completed immediately pre- and post-video viewing. Participants were divided into three groups (People with Knee OA; People without Knee OA; Health Professionals), with n=44/group required to detect a medium effect size in the primary outcome (OA beliefs; maximum score=50). Purposive sampling variation was used to ensure broad impact of future public messaging using sociodemographic targets for age, gender, location, cultural and linguistic background, health literacy, socioeconomic status, clinical factors, and healthcare experiences. Paired t-tests evaluated changes in outcomes pre- and post-video within each group. Feedback data was synthesised descriptively.

Results

The key message of the co-designed video prototype was: ‘scientists have busted the myth that osteoarthritis is a wear-and-tear disease’. 149 participants completed the online evaluation survey (n=44-55/group). All three groups had medium–large improvements in OA beliefs [People with Knee OA: mean difference (MD)=7.3 (95%CI 5.7-8.9), Cohen’s dz=1.3; People without Knee OA: MD=5.9 (95%CI 4.1-7.8), Cohen’s dz=1.0; Health Professionals: MD=3.8 (95%CI 2.0-5.7), Cohen’s dz=0.6]. People with Knee OA also had reduced fear of movement (p=0.039) and increased exercise intention (p<0.01) but no change in pain self-efficacy (p=0.057) or surgery intention (p=0.050). However, 24% reported they were less likely to see a surgeon after the video. 91% of participants said they would recommend the video to people with OA. Common positive feedback was: easy to understand; concise; and use of ‘fun facts’. Common negative feedback was: lack of detail (e.g., exercise guidance) and nuance/individualisation.

Conclusions

Our co-designed video prototype showed promising effects in three separate target audiences, supporting future use for public education about OA . Improvements in OA beliefs across all diversely-sampled groups suggest that the co-design approach created a video prototype with potential impact for a broad cross-section of society. Improvements in most secondary outcomes including intended management behaviours, as well as generally highly positive feedback, further support the video’s potential for impact. While active viewing of the video via a research study does not replicate incidental and repeated exposure that occurs via public messaging, medium–large effects on OA beliefs from a single viewing opportunity in all three groups is encouraging. Further video refinement to better target self-efficacy may be valuable prior to wide dissemination, and prospective controlled studies to explore translation of positive effects to management behaviour change and healthcare use are warranted.

References

[1] Braithwaite FA, Arnold J, Davis A, Gwilt I, MacIntyre E, Morris S, James KR, Lee K, Marshall H, Ninnes P, Scrafton D, Smith N, Stanton TR. Osteoarthritis consumers as co-researchers: Identifying consumer insights to improve osteoarthritis management by co-designing translational research solutions. Osteoarthr Cartil 2023;31(7):944-953.

[2] Braithwaite FA, Deshpande S, Dennett L, St Jean C, Krebs B, Buchbinder R, Gross DP. Contemporary media campaigns for musculoskeletal pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis with social marketing benchmarking. In preparation.

Presenting Author

Felicity A. Braithwaite

Poster Authors

Felicity Braithwaite

PhD

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

John Arnold

PhD

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Monique V. Wilson

Bachelor of Physiotherapy (with Honours)

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Brian Pulling

BSci

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Erin MacIntyre

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Miriam Hobson

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Kevin R. James

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Kaye Lee

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Helen Marshall

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Peter Ninnes

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Derek Scrafton

PhD

University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Tasha Stanton

The University of South Australia

Lead Author

E-mail

Topics

  • Patient Engagement and Co-Creation in Research and Education